The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced Wednesday that the New World screwworm was detected in a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas.
This is the first time the New World screwfly has been detected in the United States since 2017.
New World screwworm larvae “burrow into the flesh of live animals, causing severe damage and economic loss to livestock,” the Department of Agriculture said in a press statement about the Texas discovery.
The statement said larvae were found in the calf’s navel, adding that no further findings have been made to date.
The New World screwworm fly was eradicated in the United States in 1966, and a small outbreak in the Florida Keys was eradicated in 2017, according to the USDA. According to the agency, NWS is endemic in Cuba, the Dominian Republic and countries in South America.
“Since cases began to rise in Central America and Mexico, USDA has invested heavily in the tools necessary to eliminate NWS. The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again,” USDA said.
USDA and Texas state officials are working to contain and eradicate NWS from the country, including establishing a 20-kilometer (12-mile) infection zone around the detection area and increasing quarantine, movement controls, and surveillance in the area.
“Protecting the livestock industry is a matter of paramount national security importance, and USDA is wasting no time in taking action,” said Dudley Hoskins, USDA’s assistant secretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
“Since cases began to rise in Central America and Mexico, USDA has made significant investments in the tools needed to eradicate NWS,” Hoskins said. “The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again.”
In December, the Food and Drug Administration granted conditional approval to Exzolt Cattle-CA1, a topical solution used to prevent and treat New World screwworm infestations. This product is manufactured by Merck Animal Health, a division of Merck Animal Health. Merck & Co..
Merck’s stock price rose more than 3.5% in early trading Thursday.
“The detection of New World screwworm in Texas is serious,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in a statement on X.
“My team and I are closely tracking the situation. The Department of Agriculture and the State of Texas are taking immediate action to ensure the security of our food supply, support livestock producers, and eradicate pests,” Cruz said. “Texas has overcome this threat before and remains the backbone of the U.S. livestock industry.”
—CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this article.
